Carlisle Trust, the main company in Mr John Byrne's group of property companies, recorded a small drop in accumulated profits in its balance sheet for December 31st, 1998, the latest year for which figures are available.
Documents filed recently in the Companies Registration Office indicate modest profits or even losses for the companies in the group. Carlisle Trust is itself owned by a Cayman Islands trust. The accounts note the parent is Prospect Holdings, an unlimited Cayman Island company which is controlled by a Cayman Island trust.
Mr Byrne's group of companies owns a number of prominent Dublin office developments, including O'Connell Bridge House and D'Olier House.
The Parnell Square building which houses the Companies Registration Office is leased to the Office of Public Works by the group of companies, and negotiations are under way for the leasing of a building in the Smithfield area of Dublin for the new courts service.
Mr Byrne's companies have been linked to loans worth £17.5 million sterling (€27.7 million) taken out from Irish Intercontinental Bank in the period since 1991 and backed by funds in the Ansbacher deposits.
Mr John Byrne, Simmonscourt Lodge, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, and his wife, Ms Ciara Byrne, are the sole directors of the companies in the group. The returns and accounts were filed in April last, in most instances following company e.g.m.s on February 18th, 2000. The reason for the e.g.m.s is not clear from the documents lodged.
Annual returns for Carlisle up to December 31st, 1998, show the accumulated profits dropping from £769,972 (€977,663) to £759,043. The returns show the company's 10 preference A shares are held by Mr Anthony Gore Grimes (two), Mr John Byrne (four), and Ms Ciara Byrne (four).
The company's 1080 B ordinary shares are held by Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd, the Cayman Islands bank at the centre of the Ansbacher deposits controversy. The company's indebtedness is given as £10.8 million.
The accounts show that Carlisle holds 100 per cent of the shares in Smithfield Property Development Ltd, Alstead Securities, Goreville Ltd, Pritco Ltd, J.E.C. Properties and Dublin City Estates Ltd. The notes to the accounts show that Carlisle is owed £11.6 million from subsidiary undertakings.
Creditors include £996,915 due to Thorin Investments Ltd, a company incorporated in 1979 which was dissolved, never having filed an annual return, in 1989. The creditors also include a director's loan of £400,000.
The company is party to a guarantee for £7 million in favour of Bank of Ireland and in respect of borrowings by group companies Alstead, Smithfield and Dublin City Estates. The company is also party to a similar guarantee for £5.2 million in favour of Irish Intercontinental Bank in respect of Alstead Securities.
The Dublin City Estates Ltd return for 1999 show Mr Gore Grimes holding two A preference shares, Mr Byrne holding four, and his wife holding another four. The 90 B ordinary shares are held by Carlisle Trust.
The accounts for the year to December 31st, 1998, show accumulated losses dropping from £130,164 at December 31st, 1997, to £51,386 a year later. Fixed assets are £5.3 million and shareholders' funds £4.5 million.
In relation to Alstead Securities, the accounts show the accumulated profit on the balance sheet at December 31st, 1998, as £2.8 million, an increase of just over £0.8 million on the 1997 figure. Fixed assets are £26.4 million and shareholders' funds £9.7 million.
Smithfield Property Development Ltd, formerly Endcamp Ltd, has an indebtedness of just under £1 million, according to its annual return for 1999. The accounts for the year ended December 31st, 1998, show the accumulated losses on the balance sheet as having remained all but unchanged at £4.19 million. Assets are given as £3.4 million and creditors as £7.6 million.
Goreville Ltd had an indebtedness of £624,228, according to the annual return to September 8th, 1999, filed in April of this year. There is no figure for accumulated profit or loss given on the balance sheet.
Pritco Ltd has no indebtedness according to its latest filed return, which is for up to October 6th, 1998. The accounts for the year to December 31st, 1997, show accumulated profits falling to £309,000 from £510,000 the previous year.
